forbidden Lovers
by Frum Unda Mahballz
Summary: Story of forbidden love and their fight to remain together. Haru and Sora with O.C from another story. Bit of bleach in it but no characters so it's not a cross over Per se.
1. Chapter 1 (The Beginning)

**Yo, this is the second arch of. . . Well we haven't really decided what we wanna name the hole thing. But anyways this is separate to bloody panic (If you haven't read that don't worry it's not a prequel or notin, read it later dough) but this and few a other stories we will write will all eventually come together in one story that all of team long wood will work on together in an amazing explosion of amazingness (like a boss). Right now I haven't decided on the name of this story will be. Well you should know it caus you hopefully read the title before you clicked on this thing. Tell me what you think of it. . . watever it is, right now I'm leaning towards calling this wincest or twincest. **

**Chapter 1**

Haruka and Sora Kasugano playfully chased after each in their grandfather's front yard, enjoying the first day of their summer vacation. "Haru wait up!" Sora shouted after her older brother. The children's parents happily watched as they stretched their legs. The trip out to the country had been long and painful. Their legs were still sore from sitting on the crowded trains and buses all day. The family had a brief moment of relief when they got off at the station.

"Ojiisan" Haruka shouted. Sora hung back nervous to see her grandfather. After Haruka had a quick hug with his grandfather the children piled in to the back seat of their grandfather's car with their mother. Sora sat in the middle seat fighting her sleepiness. However she gradually succumbed to the car's gently rocking and sleep took her. She slumped to her side and her head fell on Haruka's shoulder. They young boy blushed feeling his twin sister's touch but said nothing almost equally as tired as her.

At some point in the car ride Haruka most have fallen asleep as well, because the next thing he knew he was gently being awaken by his mother's gentle touch. "We're here" she whispered softly. Haruka sprang from his seat into the drive way fully revitalized from his short power nap. He spun around back towards the car to see Sora slowly awaken.

"Uh, are we there yet?" she asked rubbing her tired eyes.

Haruka nodded enthusiastically "Yea, com'on." He grabbed Sora's hand and dragged her from the car towards the house.

"Huh- Haru wait" Sora shouted as her brother pulled her forward. She stumbled out of the car and almost fell but a supportive arm from her brother caught her before she injured herself.

"Honestly you so clumsy" Haru teased.

"It's your fault I stumbled" Sora pouted.

Haru smiled ignoring his sisters complaining and took her hand again. "Com'on this is your first time to Ojiisan's and Obaasan's house right? " The young girl nodded shyly, nervous to be at her grandparents' house for the first time.

Haru continued to lead his frightened sibling towards the house. As they got closer to the house Sora's hand tightened around his. "Haru I'm scared" his sister almost cried. Haru opened his mouth to say something to calm Sora, but right before he could say anything the front door opened and his grandmother walked out.

"Obaasan!" Haruka shouted happily. He ran towards his grandmother throwing his arms around her. She in return hugged him, her frail arms wrapping around his midriff. The familiar scent of his grandmother enveloped Haru; like cough syrup and medicine.

"How are you Haru-Chan?"

"Good"

His grandmother smiled pleased to hear that Haru was doing well. She released him from her grip and straitened herself. Her eyes scanned across her lawn falling upon Sora, who was standing a little ways away still scared. "Ara, ara, who's this little girl?" the old women asked happily. Sora shuffled awkwardly unsure what to do. Haru seeing her distress ran to her aid.

"It's okay Sora, Obassan's really kind. You don't have to be afraid of her."

"But I'm scared."

I'm right here Sora nothing is going to happen. Why don't you go introduce yourself?" The young girl nodded determinedly. If it was to please Haru, Sora could do just about anything. She slipped her hand in Haru's and together they walked towards their grandmother.

Once they got closer the elderly woman bent down examining her new grandchild. "Hi sweetie what's your name?" she asked. Sora panicked and ducked behind Haru trying to hide herself from view. Her grandmother straitened herself giving the child space, looking slightly hurt.

Haru nudged his sister "Sora introduce yourself" he whispered.

Sora nodded and stepped out from behind him, but kept a firm hold on the back of his shirt. "H- Hi m-my name is Sora" she stammered.

Their twins' grandmother smiled brightly at them "Nice to meet you Sora". Sora tried to bring herself to smile at the old women to make up for her previous shyness, but couldn't bring herself to do it. The end result made her look even more miserable then when she was frowning. Their grandmother thought for a moment trying to decide how to cheer up her only granddaughter. Her mind came up the one thing that no child could resist. "How about the two of you go play out back while I bake some cookies for you."

With that the little girl finally broke into a smile. "Okay" she exclaimed happily. She took her brother's hand one more time and ran around back to play.

As the two children continued to play their parents unloaded their luggage from the car and headed inside. They unpacked their clothes in the spare bedroom and headed back towards the living room.

Mr. Kasugano's mother had just finished putting a fresh batch of cookies in the oven for his children. "Okaasan you didn't have to bake the children cookies. Lord knows they have enough energy without sugar.

The grown man's mother laughed, but waved her hand dismissively "it's no trouble deary. Sora just looked so nervous that I thought I do something to make her feel more at home.

Mr. Kasugano's eyes fell upon his two children outside "Thank you" he said "We didn't know if it was too soon to bring Sora here but she seems to be doing okay."

"How long has it been since she's gotten out of the hospital?" Ojiisan asked.

"Only about two months."

The man's elderly father nodded "She seems to be getting along well with her brother."

Mr. Kasugano sighed "Now if she could only get along with others as well."

"She doesn't have many friends?" Obaasan asked. She had taken her oven mitts off and was now untying her apron.

"None I'm afraid. Her teachers say she struggles with talking to others. Haru had to get transferred to her class because he's the only one she'll talk to about anything."

"Is it that bad?"

Mr. Kasugano nodded "Sadly yes, she even seems afraid of me and her mother sometimes."

"That's serious, do you have any idea why she seems so scared of people. Did the doctors treat her poorly while she was getting treatment in the hospital?"

"No he's our family doctor, he's a nice man." It was Ms. Kasugano who answered. She had just finished unpacking and walked into the room. Having just reached forty years old she was still the spitting image of her twin children. She had a perfect figure with long silver hair fell down to her waist. Her face was bright and cheerful with eyes that were just a shade darker than her hair.

"If it's not the doctor then what's the causing her to be so nervous around strangers then?"

Mr. Kasugano sighed "It's a horrible story, I can understand why that would stand why it would scar a child like that."

"What happened?"

"Sora had always been afraid of thunder even before she had to go to the hospital. When the storm started Sora had been in her room sleeping. The thunder must have awakened her because she left her room and ran down the hall. The security guard on duty that night had fallen asleep so Sora was free to go wherever she wanted. The poor girl accidently stumbled into the morgue." Obaasan let out a small gasp as Mr. Kasugano continued. "When the nurses found her the next morning she- she had opened all the body bags." His mother gasped again "She- she didn't understand why they weren't moving, o-or breathing. Th-the nurses tried to explain but Sora wouldn't listen she just sat there and wailed."

Obaasan wiped a tear from her eyes "That poor little girl." Ojiisan nodded solemnly in agreement. The room fell quite, no one quite sure what to say.

It was Ms. Kasugano who finally broke the silence. She clapped her hands "Alright that's enough of the sad talk. Sora's healthy again and we're back together as family. Let's just put all that behind us and focus on helping Sora get better."

Obaasan nodded "Right you are dear. We should call the children in, the cookies will be done soon and I hear it's supposed to rain tonight."

Mr. Kasugano stood "I'll go get them" he announced. The father turned toward the sliding glass door and walked outside.

Ms. Kasugano stood as well "Do you need any help cooking dinner Okaasan?"

"Oh, yes please. It's getting harder and harder for this old lady to cook meals" her mother in law answered. The old women turned to her equally old husband "Dear could you set the table for us and the children?"

The old man grumbled unhappily but went to go get the plates and napkins sensing that this was not an argument he could win. The two women went to the kitchen and began preparing supper. Within five minutes the table was set and ten minutes later the food was almost done.

Ms. Kasugano gave an almost inaudible sigh "Where is my husband it shouldn't take him this long to-" She was interrupted by the sliding door being thrown wide open. Mr. Kasugano stood just outside the door panting hard.

"Darling what's-"

"The children" he panted.

"What about them dear?" panic creeping into her voice.

"I can't find them anywhere."


	2. Chapter 2 (The Encounter)

**Alright so here's chapter two. Woah was this thing hard to write or what? I had writers block half a dozen times. Hope you enjoy this thing lord knows I didn't enjoy writing it. You know the drill fav follow review blah blah blah ect ect. **

Haru and Sora continued to play outside as the adults talked in the living room. "Haru wait up" Sora shouted. Haru looked back over his shoulder seeing his sister struggling to keep up with him. He slowed almost coming to a complete stop letting her catch up. Haru easily forgot how weak his sister was after spending so much time in the hospital.

"Sorry" he said guiltily as Sora approached him.

"Its fine" she panted trying to catch her breath. "What do you wanna play now?" she asked, trying to change the topic. Haruka looked around at his surroundings, he tried to think of something that wouldn't be too strenuous on Sora but not so easy that it became boring.

His eyes caught the edge of a forest about one hundred meters from where the children were now. "You wanna go explore the woods?" he asked.

Sora looked at the woods, then towards the sky "I don't know, it's getting kind of Dark maybe we should head back to the house."

"Aww, com'on just a little bit. We'll be back before the adults even know we we're gone."

Sora was reluctant to join but after much persuading she caved in and agreed to accompany Haruka on his adventure. "But, just for a little bit" she warned him.

Haru nodded happily, pleased that she had simply agreed to go with him into the woods. Haru lead the way for his sister as they walked towards the large thicket of trees.

The moment the children stepped inside the forest the few noises coming from the small town faded away leaving only the sounds of the footsteps and the wildlife that now surrounded them on all sides. The trees above them blocked the sky, resulting in long angular shadows that were cast across the forest floor.

Haru began second guessing his decision to come here, perhaps Sora was right maybe they should have headed back to the house. It was bright there and it didn't have an eerie quietness that the woods did, maybe even Obaasan had finished backing those cookies and was setting them out now.

He was just about to turn around when Sora's arms suddenly wrapped around him. Haru's heart rate shot up the way it always did when Sora unexpectedly touched him. The nervous boy turned around facing his twin sister. "What's wrong?" he asked trying to ask as calmly as possible.

"Onii-Chan, I'm scared let's go home" she pleaded. Haru sensed the fear in her voice and obeyed. Onii-Chan, Haruka could barely remember the last time Sora had called him that.

"Yea, I think I'm done exploring for today, lets head back." The two turned around and set off back towards their grandparents' house. Sora walked so close to Haru that their shoulders touched. She absentmindedly reached down and grabbed Haru's hand wrapping it around hers. Haru didn't complain he squeezed her hand, enjoying the comfort from its warmth.

They continued walking in the opposite direction from which they had come from earlier. They were moving slower on the way back, taking care not to step on each other's feet now that they were so close together. As they walked Haru grew more and more concerned by the second, they had been walking to long they should have seen the clearing they had come from by now.

"Haru, how much longer till were home?" Sora asked. She too looked as if she had noticed that they should've been back by now.

"It should be pretty soon now" Haru answered trying to keep the rising panic out of his voice.

That's when the thunder struck. The lightning came first illuminating the darkness of the forest for a moment. The deadly arch of electricity was followed by the unmistakable clap of thunder. The blast spread through the trees shaking branches and causing leaves to fall. The shockwave ran through Haru in a second, his body shook and he felt his bones vibrate in their sockets.

For a moment there was complete silence. Haru reached for Sora with his left hand as he continued to hold onto her hand with his right, but he was too late. Sora flailed and screamed in a frenzied panic slapping away any attempt by Haru to calm her. Her foot lashed out connecting with her brother's shin. The injured boy yelped in pain, releasing his sister's hand in his moment of weakness.

The moment she was free of her brother's grasp she ran. She ran without any direction or plan, she simply ran trying to escape from the flashes of light that continued to strike overhead. Haru ran after her, brushing tears of pain out of his eyes as he tried to ignore the burning sensation that spread through shins.

Even injured it was easy for Haru to follow his panicking sister through the forest, her silver hair stood out in the darkness of the forest. He slowly closed the gap between the two, jumping over roots and swatting branches out of his face along the way. "SORA!" He shouted, desperately trying to stop his fleeing sister.

The young girl either didn't hear or didn't care that her brother was calling her, because she made no motion to slow down or stop. She took a sharp right to avoid a tree, but Haru anticipating the move was already there. He put a hand out to catch her, but had underestimated how fast they were going and when their bodies connected the momentum was enough to cause both of them to stumble.

As they fell Haru wrapped both arms around Sora. He positioned himself beneath her, protecting her. When their bodies hit the ground Haru took the full force of the blow nocking the wind out of him. Still he held onto Sora knowing that if he even loosened his grip for a second she would break free and start running again. If she got away again there was no way Haru would have the energy to chase her down a second time. Sora flailed wildly in his arms trying desperately to get away, to escape from the tormenting storm above.

Try as he might Haru could not stop Sora from hitting him repeatedly, blows rained down from above striking his arms and face. A particularly vicious swipe from Sora broke the skin on Haru's cheek drawing blood.

That's what finally snapped Sora back to reality. She looked at her brother's bloody cheek, then her own bloody hand, slowly putting the pieces together. Almost immediately she broke into tear of Sorrow. "Ha-Haru I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine it's just a scratch" Haru said soothingly. He smiled relieved his sister had stopped trying to escape.

Sora shook her head violently tears flying everywhere "N-No it's not I- I shouldn't have-" her cries were interrupted as another bolt of lightning crashed down from above. Sora froze in fear her body becoming stiff as a board.

"S-Sora are you okay?" Haru asked concerned, momentarily forgetting the pain in his cheek. Sora trembled violently unable to talk. "Sora?" He called out even more concerned for sister. His cries broke her from her trance allowing the girl to fling herself at her brother burying her face in his chest. Haru wrapped his arms around her soothingly "It's going to be okay" he murmured trying to calm Sora as well as himself "It's going to be okay." She nodded still unable to speak out of fear.

The siblings continued to lie on the forest floor until Sora had stopped shivering. Haru didn't know how long they laid there, but before he knew it the forest shadows grew deeper and the few rays of light that had trickled through earlier were now gone. Night had fallen over the forest calling out to the creatures of the dark. Haru heard an owl hoot nearby and a coyote howl in the distance but he ignored it, focusing on comforting his sister.

The storm still raged overhead lighting up the sky occasionally with bolts of lightning that shook the trees and terrified Sora. The poor girl had thrown both her arms around her brother seeking his protection. Haru had squeezed her back knowing how she felt and the horrible night at the hospital she was remembering right now.

"Haru I wanna go home" Sora begged.

"I don't know how to get there."

"Can we at least leave this forest?"

Haru nodded; at least he could do that for her. "It looks like there's a light coming from over there. Should we go check it out?"

Sora nodded and climbed off him. Haru stood now free of his sister's weight and leaned down holding out a helping hand. She took it and once she was on her feet she clung to it. The twin turned and walked towards the light that trickled through the trees.

Their progress was even slower than before. Now that Sora clung onto Haru's arm with both of hers they had to be careful not to step on each other's feet. Whenever lightning struck, the scared little girl squeezed her brother's arm so hard that her nails broke the skin drawing more blood, but neither of the children seemed to notice, or care. The only thing that mattered at the moment was getting out of the forest and back home.

When they made it about halfway to the light, the rain started. It came down in thick heavy droplets that stung when they hit the children. Haru was almost glad for it. The loud pitter patter of the rain hitting against the rocks and the trees might drain out the thunder far out in the distance.

Haru turned to Sora "do you want to keep going or do you want to look for shelter?" He shouted over the pouring rain.

"Let's keep going we should almost be there" she shouted back. She sounded calm but Haru could tell she was trying to keep fear out of her voice. As they drew closer and closer to the light the pace quickened. When they got about one hundred feet from the light the children broke out into a dead sprint. They sprang through the trees into the clearing only to have their spirits crushed.

Instead of having left the forest behind them, they had stumbled onto a river with even more trees on the other side. The river was deep and wide, impossible to wade through and thanks to the extra rain the current was extra fast making swimming across also difficult. Haru might be able to but it would have certainly impossible for Sora in her weakened condition.

Sora fell down it a fit of tears "I wanna go home, I wanna go home" she cried.

Haru almost broke down into tears as well. But if he started crying now, Sora would give up all hope. He dropped to his knees in front of his sister, protecting her from as much rain as possible. Sora looked up her eyes were watery and blood shot from her tears. He opened his mouth trying to think of what he should say. He never got the chance to say them.

The world around them exploded. Dirt and rocks flew everywhere. The twins were tossed through the air like a couple of rag dolls. Haru got lucky Landing in the soft mud but Sora hit the jagged rocks. She yelped as the they tore through her shirt cutting her skin. Haru scramble to his feet seeing his sister's distress and ran to her.

_What the heck was that _he thought as he franticly ran to his sister _were we almost struck by lightning? _He skidded to a stop beside Sora flinging rocks everywhere. "You okay?" he asked unable to keep the panic out of his voice. Sora didn't seem to register what he had asked. Her eyes bulged and her mouth hung open in disbelief, she raised her right hand and pointed towards the river. Haru followed her gaze, the first thing he noticed was that the rain had stopped but then he saw it.

What he saw shocked him so much he fell to the ground in shock. He rubbed his eyes not trusting what he had seen and looked again. A massive crater about thirty feet wide and about ten deep stretched across the land. The crater extended all the way to the river overlapping with it. As the twins stared in disbelief, rain water as well as river water poured into the hole slowly filling it. Smoke rose from the crater filling the air obscuring most of the hole, making impossible to see if there was anything in it. "Th-that's not p-possible" Haru stammered. Lighting wasn't that powerful was it? He had heard of lightning bolts splitting trees in half but never ripping massive holes in the ground like this.

"Ugh, Fuck that hurt."

Haru froze, was there someone in that hole? Did he fall from the sky? Was that what caused the crater? There was no way anyone could survive that.

"You kids may want to get out of here."

Haru spun around expecting to see a hideous monster but was instead greeted by a handsome teenager. He couldn't see much of his face because the stranger was wearing a pointed white hood that covered most of his face. The rest of his body was covered by a kimono that was the same color as his hood. In his right hand he held a katana made of the strangest material Haru had ever seen. It looked like it was a combination of bronze and gold. The metal glowed brightly in the darkness of the storm illuminating the area around them.

"W-who are you?" Haru stammered.

"No time for that" the stranger answered. "I might have pissed that thing off and it kind of wants to kill me now."

"Thing?!" Haru asked panicked.

The most horrendous laugh the children had ever heard sounded from the crater. It sounded as if a dozen rusty knives were scrapped across a rock at once. Sora gripped her brother's hand, more terrified of the laughter now, than the lightning that continued to rain down from above.

"Hahaha, Oh I'm far beyond pissed off and I want to do far more than kill you shinigami" the monster laughed. Haru squeezed Sora's hand in equally afraid as she was. Whatever was in that crater had a voice that was almost as bad as its laugh, it sounded as if a dozen rasping voices were talking at once through the same mouth.

The teenager behind them seemed unfazed though. "There you go with that word again. You never did tell me what a shinigami was, or what the hell you are."

"Shut up, I don't have to explain anything to you. It won't matter if I tell you anyway you'll be dead soon" the monster laughed. The dust began to clear and Sora and Haru both saw the silhouette of the monster at the same time. Vaguely human with horns on its head, its left arm was longer than its right and instead of a hand it had four long blade like fingers. In its right hand it held a sword longer than Haru's entire body. Its body gave off a purple black aura it spread out through the forest. It suffocated the twins pressing down on their bodies making it difficult to breath or move.

Sora closed her eyes in terror unable to look at the monster any longer. She flung herself at Haru seeking his protection. Haru hugged her back unable to do anything else, wishing desperately that everything would just disappear.

The wind picked up blowing away the remaining smoke, fully revealing the beast. Haru's body froze in fear, he was unable to move or even look away from the monstrosity in front of him. The monsters entire body was wrapped in a smooth white substance that almost looked like bones. The creatures face held two hollow eyes and a jagged mouth with crooked teeth. It was at least 6 and half feet tall standing over the teen by only a few inches. It walked forward, steeping out of the crater and revealing its clawed feet. The monster continued to walk forward towards them. It stopped suddenly noticing the children for the first time.

"Oh, who are these tasty looking children?"

Sora whimpered and squeezed Haru harder. Haru cursed himself for being too weak to do anything to defend his sister. However the teenager stepped between the monster and the twins banishing his sword.

"No idea. Plus I don't have to explain anything to you. It won't matter if I tell you anyway you'll be dead soon" he teased. The monster glared at the teen hearing its own words used against it. Haru could almost hear the teen chuckle at the monsters anger.

"Very well, let's settle our fight first then I can take my time eating the children" The monster grunted.

"Ugh, why is it that all monsters have to eat little kids. Do you all have a child fetish or something? I mean it's just soooo cliché"

The monster roared in outrage "Shut the hell up." It thrust his hand out a yellow bolt of lightning shot forth. The teen easily rolled to the side dodging the sudden blast and ran towards his opponent.

"Don't tell me what to do you lolicon" the teen laughed dodging another bolt of lightning. He quickly closed the gap between the two, forcing the monster to switch to his sword. The foe's fought furiously; blows rained down on all sides neither one managing to get a clean hit in. Their swords moved so fast that all the twins saw were flashes of light.

It was the teen who finally gained the upper hand. He sidestepped a particularly violent jab from the monster and brought his own sword down at the same time. The blade cleanly sliced through the white substance covering the beast's chest. As it stumbled backwards black blood spilled out of the open wound staining the rocks around him.

For a moment Haru thought the teen had won. The beast would die and he and Sora would be able to go home. They'd go to bed and in the morning they could pretend that this had never happened. But that faint moment of happiness was crushed as quickly as it came.

The moment the monster had regained its footing the hard white substance began to reform over its chest, stopping the bleeding and healing the wound. The teen laughed "You heal pretty fast. I wonder how much you can regenerate though."

As soon as the words left his mouth he disappeared in a flash of light. Haru lost sight of the warrior for a whole second before he reappeared behind the monster. The twins never saw him swing his sword but they saw the monster clutch the stub that was his arm as the rest of it fell to the ground in a bloody mess.

The beast fell to his knees, gasping in Pain "You- you bastard I'm going to kill you!" It stood as its arm quickly reformed "I AM A VASTO LORDE, I WILL NOT BE MADE FUN OF BY A CHILD."

"You don't need me that for that."

The beast gave a terrible roar so powerful that the children were thrown into the air. Sora desperately clung to Haru too scared to let go even for a second as their bodies flew through the air for the second time. Haru curled his body around Sora as they hit the ground taking most of the damage from the fall. He gasped in pain as his flesh was torn open by the jagged rocks on the ground. The suffocating feeling he was having increased along with the aura around the monster. Haru sat back up groaning with effort and turned his attention to Sora. She was looking at him with concern "Onii-Chan what's going to happen to us?"

Haru's eyes flicked over to the teen that had protected them earlier. Even from here Haru was able to see the confidence in his shoulders and the determination in his eyes. He smiled and turned back to his sister "Everything's going to be fine. I promise I'll get you home."

"NO" Sora shouted in a panic "Don't promise me that."

Haru looked at her startled "why not?"

"Don't promise that you'll get me home, promise that you'll get both of us home."

"Sora I-I-"

"Onii-Chan, I don't want to be alone again" she said close to tears.

Haru mentally cursed himself, how could he be so stupid. She was more afraid of losing him than dying herself. "Sora I'm sorry, I promise I'll get both of us home together" he whispered as he placed his hands on her shoulders. They nodded at each other and turned their attention back towards the fight.

It was clear now that the teen had the advantage now. He landed more and more blows found their mark against the monster, slicing open its arms, chest, and even one or two on its face. But no matter how many wounds were inflicted upon the monster, it healed itself almost immediately. The teen dressed in white raised his sword high in the air, preparing for an attack. The monster tried to parry the blow but was sent flying unable to stop the full force of the attack.

It stumbled back onto its feet spitting curses "I'm going to slaughter you!" it spat.

The teen rested his sword on his shoulder "You keep saying that but you've yet to even hit me. Quite frankly, you're so weak that I'm kinda getting bored."

"Shut up I'm going to-"

His rant was interrupted as the monster's chest was torn open by unseen attack from the stranger, who now stood over the monster's limp body. It had dropped its sword and was breathing heavily on the ground as it bleed everywhere. "I'm mildly impressed that you survived that" the teen said, looking down on the monster unpityingly. He spun his katana in his hand so the tip pointed downward "doesn't change anything though you still gonna die now."

The monster looked up at the teen, and for the first time Haru saw fear in the creature's eyes, he almost felt sorry for it . . . almost. The monster's head then turned towards the children "I may die . . . BUT I'M NOT GOING ALONE." It opened its jagged mouth revealing a ball of red energy that quickly grew. It flashed brightly and the next thing Haru knew a solid a red beam of energy was coming straight at him and his sister. He covered Sora knowing that it would do no good the beam would disintegrate them in seconds. He closed his eyes and waited, waited for the red light to engulf them ending this horrible nightmare forever. He heard the blast hit its target and a scream of pain, not knowing if it was someone else's or his own.

Tentatively he opened his eyes. The teen who had saved them earlier lay face first on the ground, the top of his kimono had been destroyed in the blast revealing terrible blisters on his back. "He-he sacrificed him-himself to save us" Sora stammered.

"Hahaha, I never expected he would sacrifice himself to save some shitty brats. Hahaha fortune smiles upon me today. I get to eat two children and a powerful shinigami, hahahah." Haru's blood turned to ice. They were going to die, the teen's sacrifice had done nothing but prolong their life by a minute perhaps even less. Their only choice now was to run. Maybe by some miracle they'd be able to lose the beast in the trees.

Haru went to stand, when his foot suddenly slipped on something. He looked down curiously and saw the gold-bronze sword the teen had used earlier. Slowly an idea formed in his head, a stupid insane idea, but it was better than just trying to run away. He picked up the sword and faced the monster.

"Hahaha, oh this is rich. You actually think you'll be able to stop me. Oh I'm going to take my time killing you."

Haru's body shook was fear but he didn't waver. He hid behind the teen to afraid to stand up for himself. Once the warrior had fallen Haru made up his mind he was going to fight.

His little sister was in too much shock to fully realize what was going on at first "Ha-Haru what are you-"

"Sora listen to me, you need to run NOW!" Haru shouted. The child was well aware that there was no way he could defeat the monster but maybe he could buy enough time for Sora to escape.

Realization dawned on the girl as she fully grasped what her brother was trying to do "NO!" she shouted.

"Sora-"

"NO, NO, NO, I'm not leaving without you." She cried wrapping both her arms around Haru's waist pressing her body against his "you promised" she sobbed "You promised you'd get us both home, I'm not going back without you."

"Sora . . ."

"I'm staying weather you want me to or not."

Haru didn't protest anymore, accepting his sister's presence. Deep down he was happy that his sister was staying. He was scared of dying but he was terrified of dying alone with no one to comfort him at the end. "Alright we fight together." Sora nodded determinedly and faced the monster along with her brother.

"My, my, what a touching scene, I'm happy you stayed little girl, it would have been such a hassle to come find you after I killed your brother" the monster hissed. Sora shivered but didn't move from where she was standing, determined to stay with Haru till the end. She coiled her arm around her brother and placed her right hand on the sword just below his hand, so they both gripped the sword.

Bright light exploded around them, temporarily blinding both twins. When Haru regained his vision he saw arcs of light the same color of the sword surrounding them. "Wh-wha-" Sora stammered at the sudden light that surrounded them. Warmth spread through his body, the pain from his cuts and scrapes slowly faded away making him fell revitalized. He turned to face his sister and her expression told him that she was feeling it too.

The monster looked mildly surprised at the arcs of light "So you have spiritual pressure, no matter it won't help you if you don't know how to use it."

Haru didn't know what exactly this spiritual pressure stuff was, but the monster had implied that it could be used as a weapon. All they had to do was figure out how to use it. Haru reached out with his mind towards the gold-bronze arcs of energy bending them to his will. They obeyed but felt strange an alien to the inexperienced child. Sora who had grasped what Haru was doing, followed her brothers example. The arcs began swirling around them, faster and faster surrounding them like a swarm of angry bees. The twins closed their eyes in concentration throwing all of the energy they had gathered at the monster. The blast exploded around the monster, engulfing its body and blasting earth everywhere. For a second time Haru thought they had defeated the monster and for a second time his hopes were crushed.

The monster emerged from the blast relatively unharmed. The explosion had left light bruises across it's chest and face and at some point its arm had been ripped off in the attack leaving a bloody stub. But the look on the creature's face told them that it barely felt anything. "Hey, you damn brats that kind of hurt" the monster chuckled with glee. "Still I never expected you to grasp your spiritual pressure so quickly, but no matter. You're going to die now."

This was it, they had official used up every last resource they had at their disposal. The teen was injured or perhaps dead, they had used all of their energy in that last attack, and they were to drained to even lift the sword to defend themselves let alone swing it. Sora closed her eyes and hugged her brother waiting for the inevitable to happen.

The monster continued to advance its arms regenerating as it walked. Its sword still lay on the ground by the river but its claw arm was certainly deadly enough to tear them in half. The beast stopped a few feet short and raised its claw "Goodbye, I hope you enjoyed your life because it's about to end." The twins drew on the last of their strength and raised the sword together in a vain attempt to block the attack. They closed their eyes in fear, unable to look at the monster for a second longer. Haru heard the wet sound of a blade tearing through flesh but felt nothing."

For a terrifying moment Haru thought that the monster had attacked Sora. His eyes flew open in a panic and turned to Sora. She was unharmed but her expression told him that she had been thinking the same thing but about him. Slowly Haru turned back to the monster anxious of what he was about to see.

Once more the second time the teen had thrown his body in the way of the monster's attack to save the twins. The beast's claw had stuck in his right shoulder almost severing his arm from his body. The monster looked at him in disbelief "Tha- that's not possible no one has ever survived my cero."

"Please that piss poor excuse for attack couldn't have killed my grandma" The teen gasped clearly in pain. He drew back his left arm and punched the monster in the stomach before it had a chance to say anything else. The moment the teen's fist made contact more black blood spilled out as the monster's whole body tore apart. Its limbs flew in opposite directions, its torso exploded bits flying everywhere. The monster's entrails spilled out but they didn't look human they had black crystal like spikes puncturing them and everything looked infected and decayed.

"Y-you bastard" the monster spluttered its head disconnected from the rest of its body..

The stranger looked down happily "Bye, bye" he said merrily. He raised his foot and stomped on the monsters face so hard that it shattered through the white substance covering its face. His foot continued downward going through the monsters face as if it were made of butter until it hit the ground below. The creature twitched a few more times then went extremely still never to move again.

Haru looked in amazement as the body of the creature began to melt. The black blood and the outer white shell blended together in a ugly gray as it sank through the rocks into the soil beneath. The teen wiped the sweat from his brow with his good arm "whew, that was a close one." He fell to the ground lying on his back exhausted.

He looked up at Haru a look of admiration in his eyes "You got balls kid."

"What was that thing?" Haru asked.

The teen yawned "No questions right now I'm tired, lemme sleep."

"Hey you can't just-"

The teen held a finger to Haru's lips "it's ok I'll explain everything later. Your safe now, just sit back and enjoy it."

"But-"

Snore.

Haru sighed, how the heck had he already fallen asleep. The weary child placed the sword on the ground by his savior. Safe, he had almost what that felt like. In the short time that the monster was present he had almost died so many times that he had given up and was fully prepared to die. Now that they were safe Haru had no idea what to do. He turned to Sora; maybe she would know what to do.

He turned around just in time to catch his crying sister as she flung herself at him. "Thank god" she whispered in his chest. "It's over we can go home now."

Haru smiled "Yeah lets go home."

The teen looked up from the ground "That's still a far away from here isn't it. After a quick nap I'll take you there."

Sora looked at him happily "Really?"

"I thought you were asleep." Haru snapped.

"Faking, and yes really." Sora gave a squeal of glee and Haru sighed heavily.

"Yea, I just need to-" he yawned "sleep first." He curled up in a ball and rested his head on his hands.

"WAIT!" Haru shouted.

The teen looked up wearily "what?"

"I know you said no questions, but can you answer just one?"

The teen opened one and sighed "Alright"

"What's your name?"

The teen smiled "Name's Cai nice to meet you. Now sleep" his eye lids dropped and he fell asleep for real this time.

Sora giggled "He's funny"

Haru chuckled with her "I guess. You never would have guessed this is guy that just saved our lives." It was true, asleep Cai looked innocent and harmless. He snored softly enjoying his well-deserved rest. Haru knew that a wound like the one the teen had needed immediate medical attention but Cai seemed so relaxed that Haru didn't worry too much.

"Haru do you think Okaasan is going to be mad at us?"

Haru nodded "Probably, we may even get grounded."

"That's a shame especially since were on vacation." She slumped forward her head falling in her brother's lap "As long as Haru's there it'll be okay though."

Haru smiled "Baka"

**Ugh god was this long I planned on making it two chapters but I couldn't find a good place to end it. I didn't even plan on putting in the hollow but I was like why not and it ended up there. Nothing I can do about . . . well actually there's a lot I could do about it I write the story. Whatevs It's finished I'm not changing it. **


	3. Chapter 3 (The Infirmary)

Haru awoke with a start. His dreams tormented by giant monsters and demons chasing him through the forest. He sat up and took a deep breath now free of the tortures of the night. He looked around observing his surroundings. He expected to see the woods he had fallen asleep in, but was instead greeted by the familiar walls of his grandparent's house.

Haru closed his eyes and shook his head, positive he was still dreaming. There wasn't any logical explanation on how they could've gotten home. Cai had been to injured to carry them back and even if by some miracle the strange boy had been able to carry them, he still didn't know where they lived. Perhaps Sora had awakened before him and pointed Cai in the right direction. No that wasn't possible either, she didn't know how to get back home and even if she did she was in no physical condition to walk all those miles.

Haru bolted upright. Sora! He had forgotten that his sister had never been inside their grandparents' house before. He could hardly imagine what it would feel like to wake up alone in an unfamiliar environment, not knowing where you were. Especially after that ordeal they had gone through recently. He threw back the covers on his futon, fully prepared to run out the door in search of his sister.

"Hmm . . . Oh, good morning Haru."

Haru spun around towards the noise. Sora sat up in a futon next to his, rubbing her tired eyes. Haru gave a sigh of relief. He must have over looked her in his moment of panic when he had awoken.

She looked at him curiously, confused by her brother's look of relief. He smiled, now over the initial shock of seeing his sister appear beside him. "Good morning, how are you feeling? Do you hurt anywhere?" he asked.

"No, I'm feeling – Wait Haru where are we?" Sora asked panicked, registering that they weren't in the woods anymore.

"Calm down, where at Obaasan's house" Haru said soothingly.

Sora shoulders relaxed slightly, pleased that she now knew where she was. She glanced around the room as if she was looking for something "Where's Cai" she asked.

Haru shrugged "I don't know, I thought you might."

She shook her head "I don't have a clue. Do you think he's around here?"

Haru tilted his head, thinking hard. "Perhaps, if he brought us here Obaasan might have taken care of that wound on his shoulder and put him on bed rest to heal. So he might be in the infirmary down the hall."

Sora looked at him curiously "Infirmary?"

"Yeah, since this town is too small to have its own hospital Obaasan opened her own infirmary to treat minor injuries and sickness. Of course some people prefer the bigger hospitals but most people come here with the problems."

Sora looked impressed "I never knew that Obaasan was a doctor."

"Yup, she doesn't perform major surgeries but she can stitch up cuts and I think she's helped deliver a baby before."

"You think she could take care of Cai's injury? It looked pretty serious to me."

Haru scratched his head "I don't know if he had lost a lot of blood they might not have had time to take him to a big hospital and had to work on him here. Once he was more stable they probably would've moved him to a bigger hospital. Still, we should probably go check since there's a large chance he could be there."

Sora slowly sat up "yeah that sounds like a good-" she gasped suddenly gripping her leg.

"Sora what's-"

"Aghhhh" she screamed. Haru was beside her in a second holding her down, trying to find what the problem was. "My leg- Aghh, it hurts" she howled in pain.

"SORA STOP MOVING" Haru shouted over her screams of pain. His sister obeyed, falling still save for the rising and falling of her chest as she gasped for air. Haru gently gripped the covers of her futon in his sweaty hands and slowly pulled them back. Her legs were totally bare, with no clothing to cover them except for her white underwear.

Sora blushed, embarrassed by her indecent appearance "Ahh, Haru don't look" she shouted shoving a hand in his face to obscure his vision.

"Hey- Ouch Sora I need to- Stop that- Ouch" Haru who could take no more snapped. He lunged at his twin sister pinning her to the floor beneath him. She squirmed and struggled desperately trying to escape her brother's grip. "Stay still" he scolded "I need to look at your leg to see what's wrong."

Sora submitted seeing the logic in his stamen, letting her brother inspect her body. He spotted the source of her discomfort almost immediately. Her upper thing was wrapped in bloody rag that at one point most have been bandages.

"Sora what happened to your leg" Haru asked concerned.

"I-I don't know, I-I think I cut it on the rocks by the river, but I'm not certain. Everything's so blurry."

Haru's mind flashed back to the moment the monster had thrown them into the air. It came back in flashes and like Sora said a lot of it was blurry, but he never remembered Sora cutting her leg on the rocks. And if she did, how did she manage to only cut her inner thigh, for that's where most of the blood looked like it was coming from. Other things came back to him to him as well. He remembered waking up with Cai and walking through the woods and talking, but not of arriving at the house or what they had talked about.

Haru shook his head clearing his mind. What happened in the woods could wait. Right now he needed to focus on treating Sora. He leaned forward inspecting the bandage around her leg. Blood had soaked through the outer most layers and had stained them and blankets of her futon a crimson red.

"It looks like you've been wearing that for too long. I'm going to go find some more bandages to replace it."

Sora nodded "Hurry back" she said almost pleadingly.

Haru sensing the fear in her voice, hurried out of the room in a rush. He bounded down the dark hallway towards his grandmother's infirmary. On his way there he ran past the guest bedroom where his parents would stay in when they came to Ojiisan's and Obaasan's house. He skidded to a stop outside the door and opened it just enough to see inside. He stuck his head inside the room and squinted, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. When his eyes finally adjusted to the dark he saw his parent's unpacked suitcase on top of the bed, but no one was in the room. He quickly scanned the room looking for a sign as to where his parents might be. After a minute or so of looking for clues Haru shut the door wondering where his parents had gone.

He spun around and bounded down the hallway once more, aware that he had wasted a lot of time looking for his parents. Sora probably wasn't too nervous right now, but it still wasn't a good idea to waste a lot of time. He came to a halt outside the door to the infirmary and yanked the door opened. Memories of helping his Obaasan treating patients came flooding back, but he pushed them down focusing on finding the first-aid kit for Sora. Haru suddenly groaned out loud, remembering that his Obaasan kept the first-aid in a cabinet just out of reach of Haru's arms.

He turned towards the beds used by the patients to rest on when they were sick, looking for a chair or a stool he could stand on to reach the supplies he needed. Haru blinked a few times, surprised that the first-aid kit sat on the nearest bed. It was if someone had gotten it down earlier, knowing that Haru would need it later. The child grabbed it without a second thought and ran out of the room back towards his sister.

Right before he closed the door he scanned the room one last time just to make sure Cai wasn't sleeping in one of the beds. He saw nothing. With a sigh he turned and shut the door behind him. He sprinted down the hallway in hurry to get back to Sora. Before Haru reached his destination he decided to make one last detour. He turned into the kitchen and ran through it, into another hallway behind it. He stopped at the end of the hallway, outside his grandparent's room. He opened the door and glanced inside. They too weren't in their room. With an even heavier sigh than before he closed the door and raced back to his sister.

When he opened the door he heard Sora let out breath of air that she must have been holding for a long time. She smiled at him, pleased to see he had the first aid kit.

"How are you feeling?" Haru asked.

"Okay, it doesn't hurt as long as I don't more around."

"That's good" Haru said, relieved that his sister wasn't in pain. He sat down beside her and unzipped the first-aid kit. He took inventory of his supplies he had some disinfectant wipes some gauze, some ointment and some other things that he didn't really need. Haru took a deep breath "Alright now I'm going to need to see your leg again so don't freak out on me, okay?"

Sora nodded sheepishly and slowly lowered the covers of her futon exposing her bare legs once more. Haru paused momentarily forgetting what he was about to do. His sister blushed seeing the expression on his face "Stop staring so much, baka."

"Oh . . . uh sorry" he murmured. Haru reached out with shaking hands and gently lifted Sora's legs. He smoothly unraveled the bloody mess of bandages that was already wrapped around her leg and set them to the side. Sora cringed at her brother's touch, more from embarrassment that the actual pain she felt from her leg.

Once Haru had finished removing the old bandages he leaned forward inspecting his sister's leg. The damage wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. The wound wasn't as deep as he had expected but was instead spread out across her entire thigh. It wasn't deep but Haru vaguely remembered that his mother had told his that the medicine Sora took depleted the iron in her blood, which was probably the cause of her rapid blood loss.

He peered closer, getting a better look. It looked as if the bleeding had stopped for now, which was a relief. Haru didn't know how much more blood Sora could lose before it started to become a problem. Now came the part that Haru had been dreading, he had to check for infections.

If Sora got an infection there was no way her weakened immune system could fight off the bacteria and other infectious thing that would plague her. He pulled out a flashlight from the medicine bag and shined the light on the wound. Haru's shoulders relaxed, it looked as if someone had cleaned it recently. Still he didn't want to take any chances. He pulled the disinfectant out of his bag and unscrewed the lid. He lightly swirled his fingers in the ointment scooping out a small amount onto his fingers,

"This might sting a bit but try to bear with it okay" he said warning his sister. She nodded anxiously; slightly afraid of what was to come.

Haru took the ointment and gingerly rubbed it against the affected area. Sora cringed immediately, her face contorting in pain at his touch. Haru pulled his hand back in a flash "You okay?"

She nodded "Yeah, it just sting a lot" she said slightly embarrassed that she had reacted so much.

"Sorry" Haru apologized "I'll try to make this as painless as possible. Just tell me when you're ready and I'll start again."

Sora paused for a moment then took a deep breath "okay I think I'm ready." Haru nodded as well and resumed treating Sora's wound. Sora cringed again but Haru didn't let up until he had thoroughly cleaned the entire area.

He set the ointment down "There all done. How are you feeling?"

Sora looked up at him breathing slightly harder than normal "Okay, it wasn't too bad" she lied trying to sound stronger than she really was.

"Now all that's left is to wrap your leg with a new bandage and we should be done." Haru informed his twin sister. She groaned in frustration wanting to be done. "Don't whine so much. It shouldn't take that long" He said unraveling an appropriate length of the bandages. He tore it off with his teeth and he gently lifted Sora's leg into a more suitable position. His hands fluently worked on her leg wrapping the tape around the wound.

"You seem as if you've practiced this a lot." Sora said observing how easily her brother's hands moved across her thigh."

"Yeah Obaasan use to teach me how to do stuff like this when I came here before."

"Oh" Sora said solemnly, once again reminded of how little she knew about her brother. Haru reading his sister's sad expression smiled and rubbed the top of her head.

"I can ask Obaasan to give you some lessons too, if you want me to."

Sora's face lit up with excitement "Really?" she asked excitedly.

Haru smiled seeing his sister's new mood. "Really" he answered tying off the last of the end of the medical tape. The moment he finished Sora threw her arms around Haru "Thank you Onii-chan" she whispered.

Haru's heart skipped a beat at his sister's sudden embrace. He pushed her off him slightly "Don't make sudden moves baka. You could reopen your wound."

"I'm sorry" she giggled not sounding very sorry at all.

"Now get to sleep so your leg will heal" Haru said pulling the covers over Sora's body.

Sora snatched her brother's wrist in a moment of panic "wait, don't go" she begged. "Stay with me here, please."

Haru smiled and squeezed her hand back, reassuringly "Baka, I'm not going anywhere." The panic in Sora's eyes faded, replaced by the relief and safety she now felt. Seeing that his sister wasn't so hysterical now, Haru crawled back into his futon, never letting go of her hand once.

The twins lied side by side in adjacent futons, their hands clasped together. Sora looked at her brother awkwardly as she fidgeted in her futon. "What's the matter?" Haru asked.

Sora looked away unable to face Haru "Umm . . . well you see . . . Uh can ask you a favor?"

"Anything"

Sora relaxed ever so slightly hearing her brothers answer. She took a deep breath and continued "My futon's covered in blood so could I umm . . ." she let her sentence trail off unable to continue.

Haru smiled understanding what she was asking for "So you wanna come sleep in mine" he said finishing her sentence. Sora nodded, blushing a crimson red, embarrassed by what she was asking for. "It's fine" he laughed. She tossed the blankets aside and slowly inch wormed her way towards her brother. Haru, seeing his sister struggle spoke up "You need me to carry you?" he asked with a grin.

Sora recoiled, backing away startled "wha-what . . . n-no I can get there myself" she stuttered.

"Come now, no need to be shy."

"I told you – Wait put my down baka." Haru chuckled, as Sora continued to shout in his arms trying desperately to squirm free of her brothers grip. He ignored his sister's stream of complaints and carried her back to her futon. He sat her down and pulled the covers over her frail body protecting her from the cold of the night. Sora glared at her brother furiously, wiping the smug grin off his face "Never, do that to me again."

"Sorry. . ." Haru muttered.

Sora turned away with a "hmph" staring at the wall opposite him. Haru opened his mouth to say something but closed it deciding against saying anything. Whatever he would've said probably would've just made her angrier. Instead he turned towards the ceiling, his back to the wood flooring. Trying once again to figure out how they had gotten home and where Cai was.

After laying there for what felt like fifteen minutes Sora turned towards Haru in what was apparently a better mood. "Hey, Haru aren't you cold?" she asked.

"Not really" Haru answered lying through his teeth.

"You're lying" she said accusingly "your whole body's shivering all over. Why don't you come join me" she lifted the covers and patted the spot next to her indicating for Haru to come over.

"Sora I'm fine don't worry about me" Haru answered defensively, unable to admit he was lying earlier. "What? Why are you glaring at me like that?"

Sora turned away once more "baka."

"why are you call me –wha-" Haru barely had time to react as Sora launched herself at her twin brother. The blankets billowing behind her like a cape for a super hero. The two children collided, tumbling across the floor towards the far wall. Sora broke into giggles first causing Haru to join in a moment later. The twins came to a stop near the wall still laughing like the children they were. Haru readjusted getting into a more comfortable position and-

"AGH" Sora cried out in pain. Fear shot through Haru as Sora grimaced clutching her leg. Had the wound reopened? Was it worse now? He continued to panic as Sora's hands clutched the material of his shirt balling it into small bundles beneath her tiny fingers. A minute or two passed and the injured girl slowly uncurled her hands into a more relaxed postion.

"Sora you okay?" Haru asked trying to keep his voice even.

His sister nodded, calming his troubled heart. "Yeah the pain has past." Haru breathed a sigh of relief and scooped Sora up in his arms. "what are you doing?" Sora demanded.

"I'm carrying you back to your futon. No arguments" he said reading her expression. " I don't know what I would do if you injured yourself further." Sora blushed and let Haru carry her back. Haru set her down and lied down beside her in his respective spot on the ground. He turned so he could look at his sister "anything else you need?" he asked, trying to make up for hurting her earlier.

Sora fidgeted awkwardly under the covers of her bed "J-Just one last thing."

"What?" Haru asked.

"It's not that big really . . . canyousleepwithme?" the end of the sentence came out in a rush.

Haru managed to comprehend what Sora was asking "Baka, I already told you. No."

"Why not?" Sora demanded "Mama and Papa sleep together every night why can't we?"

"Sora I already told you I'm not going to-"

"Onii-Chan" Sora interrupted " . . . Onagi."

Haru gulped, he could just not win an argument with this girl. He crawled towards his sister obediently, succumbing to her will. Sora giggled with pleasure as Haru joined her beneath the covers. She snuggled up against him, resting her head against his chest. Haru accepted it, not having the strength to argue with her anymore.

Sora turned to face Haru, her big gray eyes illuminating the darkness "are mama and papa home?" the young girl asked.

Haru shook his head "Ojiisan and Obaasan aren't here either. We're home alone." _Home alone._ The words felt strange and alien on his lips. Haru had never been left alone before and now didn't know what to think of it. Well technically he wasn't alone, Sora was with him as well.

At the thought of his sister, Haru's heart rate shot up and his face flushed a crimson red. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself. "I can feel your heart beating" Sora whispered.

Haru closed his eyes embarrassed "Shut up"

"Your face is red too."

The young boy opened his eyes to look at his sister even in the darkness of the room he could see the pink that touched her cheeks "So is yours."

"Yea, it is" she whispered as she turned her body over. She drew one leg over Haru's waist, straddling his body. She leaned forward resting her head on her brother's chest. Her hands unconsciously found Haru's and the twins intertwined their fingers grasping each other's hands.

"Sora?" The young girl raised her head off her brother to look at him in the eyes. Haru swallowed nervous about what he was about to say. "umm Sora . . . back in the woods . . .I'm sorry for telling you to run while I stayed behind I-I wasn't thinking. I-I'm sorry"

Sora turned her head away from him making it impossible to read her expression. "I was so scared" she whispered. "I keep thinking about what would've happened if I had gotten away and you hadn't and I- I . . ." she muttered something her voice trailing off.

"Sora?"

The young girls hands curled into fists "BAKA" she shouted. She slammed her fist into Haru's chest crying sporadically. "Baka baka baka baka baka baka baka." Every time she said the word baka her fist hit Haru.

"Ow, Sora stop – ouch- stop" Haru reached up and grabbed his sister by the wrists stopping the continuous stream of blows that had rained down from above previously.

"Lemme go baka" she shouted struggling to get free. Sensing an opportunity to strike Haru rolled over pinning Sora's flailing arms to the ground. She froze, surprised by Haru's bold move. However Haru seemed to be in as much shock as Sora because he too froze.

"Uh . . . Sorry" he apologized.

"it's fine" Sora whispered blushing deeply. Haru didn't move still unsure what to do. He felt Sora's hot breath against his face as she panted to calm her racing heart. His right hand unconsciously slid down Sora's side stopping at her hip.

Her body shivered beneath him in either fear or anticipation. "Haru wh-what are you doing?" she whispered.

"I don't know. My hands are moving on their own" he whispered back. Their faces were inches apart from each other now, their noses just barely touching. Sora's hands slid across Haru's shoulders down his back, pressing their bodies even closer together. The twins foreheads were pressed together, if Haru's angled his face just a little their lips would touch.

"Onii-Chan my heads all fuzzy" Sora whispered in her brother's ear. Her hands clutched the back of Haru's shirt twirling the fabric into bundles beneath her fingers.

Haru gulped "Me too". Forgetting himself in the heat of the moment , letting his instincts take over. He angled his face downward his lips-

"OH . . . am I interrupting?"


	4. Chapter 4 (The Intruder)

Haru jumped to his feet startled by intruder's voice. He landed between the door and Sora instinctively protecting his sister. Sora quickly followed suit, momentarily forgetting the wound on her leg. Pain shot through her thigh, crippling her. The young girl pitched forward stumbling into her brother, causing them both to fall. They closed their eyes in fear bracing for impact.

They waited for the inevitable as the fell, suddenly their bodies stopped moving. They were back on their feet. "Woah guys be careful!"

Haru was the first to open his eye's. He starred in disbelief at the person before him. "Ca-Cai" he stammered.

"The one and only" he answered with a bow. He straightened and examined the twins with a smirk "you know if I had known you two were getting frisky I would've waited outside long enough for you to finish" he teased.

Haru looked at him confused "Frisky?"

Cai rummaged around in his sleeve "Here next time you're in the mood use of one of these." He pulled out a condom and tossed it to Haru.

"Wha-what the heck is this?" Haru asked.

"That my dear friend is a limited addition extra-large Trojan lubricated condom."

"umm . . ." Haru answered still unsure what the strange package was. He looked at Cai confused waiting for Cai to explain. But the innocent look the child was giving him must have made Cai realize his mistake because, quick as lightning he lashed out and took the condom back from Haru.

"What the heck was I thinking your FAR too young for that." He put the condom back in his sleeve and shook his head "Damn what was I thinking . . . there's no way a child could fit in an XL. Lemme look I might have a medium in here somewhere." He continued to search in his sleeves and his pockets completely oblivious to the confused looks the children were giving him. "Ah here it is" he announced "Ugh look at thing, sure is dusty I must've bought this thing when I was like twelve." He shrugged "Well here you go Haru you'll get more use outta this thing than me. You Might wanna check it for holes though."

"You still haven't explained what this thing is for" Haru said impatiently.

"Ah you see Sora puts it in her mouth and-"

"If Sora's gonna use it why are you giving it to me?" Haru interrupted.

Cai laughed "Alright Haru listen up. Lesson one of manhood never, and I mean NEVER. Use a condom a woman gives you, especially if that woman is a yandere."

"yandere?" Haru asked. It seemed the more questions Cai answered the more questions seemed to come up.

"Lesson two" Cai answered "There are three types of women normal girls, Yanderes, and Tsuderes. Sora seems to be a tsudere so I'm gonna teach you about them."

"Sora is NOT tusdere" Sora shouted angrily.

"Aha" Cai said triumphantly pointing a finger at Sora "the very reason you got mad proves that you are indeed a tsudere.'

"Why you- ugh aghhhhh" Sora screamed, pain shooting through her leg once more. Haru quickly scooped her off her feet to take the weight off Sora's leg.

"Lay her down" Cai instructed "Putting weight on it right now is just gonna hurt it." Haru did as instructed holding Sora's hand once she was safely back in her futon. Once it was evident that she was fine Haru turned to Cai.

"Where have you been? I searched all over the house for you but couldn't find you anywhere."

"Oh sorry I was looking round town for more of those monster thingies, just in case any more of them decided to show up."

Haru looked at him anxiously "Did you see any?" Cao shook his head and Haru let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Thank god" Sora whispered beside him. Haru couldn't have agreed more.

"Your parents are looking for you though" Cai informed the twins "They're worried sick about you."

Sora bolted up "Oh no Ka-san is going to furious at us Haru."

Cai smiled and tossled Sora's silver hair "She's only mad because she loves you" he explained to the child.

"Doesn't feel that way" Sora pouted.

Cai smiled "Trust me if they didn't love you they wouldn't be outside in the rain searching for you." Sora continued pouting but the frown of her lip lessened ever so slightly. Cai leaned against the wall enjoying the peacefulness of everything. It had been a while since he could just kick back and do nothing.

Haru spoke up "Cai you never explained what that frisky thing was."

"Oh Sora wants to know what that is too" she said excitedly.

Cai laughed "Alrighty then hmmmm . . .how to put it in a way you could understand it." Cai scratched his chin deep in thought "ah I got it. It was what you were doing before I got here" Cai said as he started making kissy faces at the twins.

The duo blushed simultaneously. "We-we wernt kissing" Sora stammered.

"Yet" Cai pointed out "If I hadn't walked in when I had you two would've been all over each other in ways that are definitely not normal sibling relationship." The twins remained silent unable to argue with Cai's statement. He laughed seeing the twins awkward response to his jab. "OH com'on cheer up" he said with a yawn. He held his hands high above his head stretching his shoulders.

"Cai your shoulders healed!" Haru exclaimed.

Cai looked at the child confused "Of course don't you remember what happened in the woods?"  
Now it was Haru's turn to look confused "What happened in the woods I don't remember anything since-"

"creeeeaaak"

"Shit that's probably your parents opening the front door" Cai shouted as he jumped to his feet. "see ya later. Don't tell yourparents anything Kay?" He sprinted towards an open window gathering speed as he went.

"Cai- wait-" Haru started but it was too late. The teen's feet had already left the ground and his body was flying head first through the window and into the outside world. The twins sat together in shock, unable to speak. Haru continued to sit dumbfounded until a tug on his sleeve from Sora brought him back to reality.

"Haru were you really gonna kiss me if Cai hadn't walked in then?" She asked.

Haru looked away "Of- of course not Baka, your my sister" he shouted angrily.

"Oh" was all she said. Her tone making it impossible to tell what she was thinking. Together the twins stood and walked towards the door, Sora leaning heavily on Haru to avoid putting pressure on her leg. As they walked Haru began to regret answering so coldly to Sora's question. He turned to apologize but before he could say anything the young girl stood on her tippy toes and kissed her brother on the cheek.

"SO-SORA?" Haru stammered.

The young girl looked at her brother grinning ear to ear "you have a bad habit of looking out of the corner of your eyes whenever you tell a lie" she whispered. With that she opened the door revealing the shocked faces of her parents and her grandparents.

Before Haru could even respond, his mother wrapped both her arms around him and his sister crushing his spine. She was saying something but his ears were still ringing too much to hear any of it. The fears he had accumulated slowly started to disappear. For now he and his sister were reunited with their family, happy and safe. That was all that mattered.

**Haha its been a while since I last updated. Srry I've been uber busy the last couple days. And I'm Srry this one was kinda short nxt one should b longer but I'm not sure what its even gonna b bout yet. Haha this hole series kinda just improved. Haha well anyway thanks for all the views and reviews guys keep it up. Yall mean a lot to me. **


	5. Chapter 5 (The mall)

The Mall

Sora had been right. Their mother had definitely been angry once things had settled down. Haru couldn't remember a time where his mother was as livid as she was now. After being scolded for what felt like hours, it was their grandmother who finally stepped in to calm down their ranting mother. Once she had blown off the last of her steam their mother took a deep breath and launched into questioning about what happened.

The twins answered the best they could, and honoring their saviors request they left out any parts about the monster or of the teen himself. When asked about Sora's injury they made up a story about her falling against some rocks.

For the most part the adults seemed to buy the whole story. Although their grandmother raised an eyebrow when Haru explained how his sister injured herself, however she kept her mouth shut and simply nodded.

This issue of Sora's leg raised questions in Haru's own mind. After playing over what precious few memories of the incident he had. He concluded that at no point had Sora injured herself. That meant that the injury occurred during their return trip. Now if only he knew what happened back then. As he tried to remember memories from the night before came flooding back to him. Cai's body engulfed in steam, Sora screaming, and the flash of Cai's gold-bronze sword. Haru pondered what it all meant, trying to put the pieces together.

"-aru . . . Haru . . . Are you even listening young man."

"Huh- oh um . . .yes?"

His mother who had just gotten his attention sighed. "You're Ooka-san is trying to ask you a question." Haru shifted his focus to his grandmother.

She knelt down so she was about the same height as the twins. "You and Sora most have been terrified out there all alone. How 'bout me and your Ojii-san take you out to the mall to cheer you up. There's a festival coming up. We could get a yukata for both of you. How does that sound?"

Both children nodded in agreement. Truth be told, neither of the twins truly wanted to go, but didn't want to risk having their mother explode on them again.

The following morning the twins were roused out of bed early. To be informed that the drive to the mall would be slightly over 3 hours. The kids hauled their exhausted bodies to the car and piled into the back seat. The early morning wakeup call seemed to be having a heavier toll on the seniors rather than the children. Not five minutes into the trip their grandmother had passed out in the passenger seat and their grandfather was fighting to keep his eyes on the road.

With their grandmother asleep and their grandfather soon to follow the twins decided it safe to talk about what happened two nights ago. Haru turned to look at his sister. She was sporting a pink T-shirt and a dark pair of jeans over a new set of bandages, which Haru had applied under the watchful eye of his grandmother earlier that morning. Haru himself had on his familiar navy blue tank top and a pair of khaki shorts.

"You remember anything yet?" he asked in a hushed tone just in case their grandfather had enough energy to listen in on their conversation.

Sora shook her head "Some flashes but nothing concrete."

Haru sighed "Same here."

Sora sighed along with him "Which means Cai is the only one who knows what happened and we have no idea where he is."

Haru shrugged "I don't think that finding Cai is going to be a problem. He'll show up when we least expect it."

"You mean like right now?"

The twins nearly jumped out the window. "Jesus Christ" Haru shouted.

"Sorry it's just Cai" the teen said from the driver seat "Although I have heard that the resemblance is quite startling."

Both the children's grandparents sat together, unconscious in the passenger seat, unaware that they had just been car jacked. "Don't scare me like that, man. How the hell did you get in here?" Haru demanded.

Cai shrugged "I was on my morning run when I passed your car. So I slowed down, opened the driver side door, knocked your out your grandpa, and took the wheel."

Haru held up a hand "Wait, wait, wait, I have so many questions, but lemme start with a simple one. Slowed down? You're telling me you can run faster than this car."

Cai winked at him in the rearview mirror "Correction, I COULD run faster than this car."

"What do you mean . . . could?" Haru asked confused. He waited impatiently for Cai's response, who was laughing as if he was enjoying some private joke. However a tug on his sleeve from Sora took precedence, so he turned his attention to his sister. "What is it Sora?"

She pointed out window on Haru's side "Haru I- I think you should look outside."

Listening to his sister's request, Haru turned and gazed out the window. The world outside was a blur of colors and shapes. The difference between a large rock and a building was almost unnoticeable. "Cai . . . How fast are we going?"

Cai shrugged "No, clue the speedometer doesn't go above 140 mph."

"Ah . . . I see" Haru said calmly feeling the last of the color drain from his face. He sat back in the seat and readjusted the seat belt. Sora did the same and once she was finished her hand found his. The twins clasped each other's hand so hard their knuckles turned white. Neither spoke a word the remainder of the car ride.

The trip that was supposed to take over three hours finished in just under one. They would've been there sooner but Cai had gotten lost three times pulled over twice to talk to girls and had been stopped by the police a collective total of fourteen times. Three of those times by the same female officer who REALLY seemed to enjoy talking to Cai, who must've felt the same way because the two were now having dinner this Friday.

By some miracle the twins' grandparents had managed to stay asleep through the entire ordeal and didn't appear to be waking any time soon. Haru quickly said a prayer to every god he could think of, thanking them for his good fortune as Cai pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the mall. The teen stepped out and stretched his legs. "UGhhhh" he groaned ". . . hm . . . Haru, sora why are you guys kissing the ground?"

"Shut up" Haru snapped "Where the hell did you get your license?"

Cai shrugged "I don't think I did get my license."

Haru felt his jaw drop "What do you mean THINK?!"

"look at my license" Cai said as he rummaged around in the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet. The teen looked completely different in normal clothes and not the white Shihakushō he wore when he fought the monster. He wore an old pair of jeans and plain white T-shirt that clung to his frame. The lack of his hood revealed an extremely handsome face with high angular check bones and massive green eyes that were almost hypnotizing. He had dark black hair that fell just short of his shoulders. He had a simple earing on his right ear. It was a simple loop with three sharp metal shapes hanging from it. The teen's body was tan and slender, definitely fit but also definitely not muscular. His feats of strength were something of a mystery to Haru, along with everything about him. "Ah here it is" Cai announced at last. He handed it to Haru. The name on the license read Trevor Franklin.

"Huh . . . that's not your name. Is it?" Haru handed the license to Sora so she could take a look.

"No, I'm confident that my names Cai, which means this must be fake."

Haru looked at him puzzled "Shouldn't you have already known that. I mean you're the one who had to go get this done. That's definitely a picture of you."

Now it was Cai's turn to look confused "Haru we've been over this I don't have any memories since I woke up in the woods."

Haru's mind switched into over drive. Cai had lost memories too. Was there some type of connection between his memory loss and the twins? No, Cai's lost a life time amount of memories, while the twins merely seemed to be missing an hour or two.

"Do you have any idea how you lost your memories? Maybe if you knew what you were doing in the woods when you came to would give you a clue. Well do you remember that? Or maybe if you knew where you learned those crazy kung fu moves. Maybe you were a monster hunter huh? Huh?" Sora spouted excited by the sudden development.

"Ugh, slow down man. You're asking too many questions at once. My brain cell is starting to hurt" Cai complained rubbing his forehead.

As Cai continued to rabble on Haru remained deep in thought trying to figure things out. Cai was the only lead they had and he didn't seem all that . . . reliable. Still the teen being the only option Cai had no choice but to put all his chips with him. "Hey Cai can I ask you about-" Haru stopped mid-sentence.

The teen in question was no longer in longer in front of him. He was fiver parking spaces down talking to a gaggle of girls. They were giggling and blushing at some joke Cai had just told. "ugh he's impossible."

Sora laughed and took his hand "Come on, let's go join him." Sora half walked, half dragged Haru over the Cai and his new found friends. They came upon the group, mid conversation.

"-hahah Cai, stop it. That's just mean" one of the girls laughed. She stopped as the twins approached. "Oh, and who might you two be?"

Before either could say a word Cai appeared beside them. "These are my younger siblings Haru and Sora" Cai said indicating towards the twins in turn. Two of the girls kneeled down next to Haru.

"Oh my gosh, he's so adorable" one cried.

"He's almost as cute as his brother" cried the other. The two girls wrapped their arms around the unsuspecting child and rubbed their cheeks against his.

"wha- what are you doing?" Haru asked startled by the girls. Suddenly, he felt a dark aura coming from his left. He turned . . . slowly, fearing what he was about to see. Sora was glaring at him so intently that her eyes the area around her seemed to burst in to flames. The two girls released Haru and scampered away behind Cai.

"So-Sora?" he stammered.

She gave him one last look of contempt and then turned away with a "hmph." She stormed off leaving Haru alone with group. Cai appeared at his shoulder in an instant.

"Alright Haru lesson three will now commence."

"L-lesson three?!" Haru said both confused and startled.

Cai put his hand on the child's shoulder "Alright, listen up. You never wana leave a girl in tsun mode for too long. You wanna break right through it and get strait to the dere. The only way to do that is to apologize for whatever meaningless thing has happened."

"I- I don't understand" Haru said even more confused now.

"The first thing you have to do is say you're sorry" the teen went on, oblivious to the childs confusion. "But don't apologize in a lame way. You have to hug her from behind to stop her from running away, then shout your apology. But that still won't be enough, then she'll start yelling at you. Just remember, no matter what she says, she's right, your wrong."

"Wha-"

"She's right, your wrong. NOW GO!" and with that the teen shoved Haru after his angry sister. Haru didn't understand what Cai meant at all, but he got the gist of. He had done something wrong that had upset Sora. He sprinted after his sister quickly closing the gap, due to her crippled leg. Listening to the teen's advice once Haru was a step behind his sister he wrapped both arms around her waist stopping her in her tracks.

"Sora wait . . .I'm-I'm sorry" he said.

"Liar" Sora said without turning around. "I bet you're not sorry at all."

"No Sora, I truly am and I beg you for your forgiveness" he said almost pleadingly. She turned slowly in his arms. When Haru could finally see her face it was red and smile was creeping up at the corners of her mouth.

"I-I guess if you ask like that I'll forgive you" she said trying not to smile. She broke out of Haru's embrace and wrapped both arms around his. As Sora dragged her brother back to the group they saw Cai giving Haru a thumbs up. Haru still confused but happy let himself be taken by his sister. Perhaps he _should _take Cai's advice more often . . . Perhaps.


	6. Chapter 6 (The Yukata)

The twins stood behind Cai as he fished out their grandparents from the passenger side seat. He had asked the girls to meet him and twins in the food court later. The agreed and left giggling and winking at Cai and Haru, which had earned them another death glare from Sora. The girls scampered off after that.

Cai nonchalantly tossed each grandparent over his shoulder and straightened. As he stood the children's grandmother's hand bushed against Cai's check. As the teen readjusted the elderly lady Haru's mind flashed back to the night when Sora had kissed his own cheek. The flash back ended as abruptly as it started. When Haru opened his eyes he found himself face to face with his sister, an arrogant smirk on her face.

"W-What?" the boy stammered feeling his face go red.

"Your rubbing your cheek again." Shit, Haru realized too late that his right hand was unconsciously stroking his cheek where Sora had kissed him. "That's the third time" she teased "You did it twice in the car ride too." Crap, she had seen those too.

"S-Shut up" The flustered child stammered feeling his face turn an even darker red.

Sora leaned forward taking a closer look at her brother "My my, I had no idea that one little kiss would bother you so much" she continued on mercilessly.

Haru's hands clenched into fists, he had enough of Sora's teasing. He roughly gripped her by the shoulders and kissed her cheek. "Ha, now were even" he said satisfied.

Sora turned an even darker shade of red then her brother "Ba-baka what do you think you're doing?" Sora shouted panicked.

Seeing his sisters flustered face, Haru couldn't help but tease her further. "Payback" he whispered as he moved his mouth across her face towards her other cheek. She shuddered against his cool lips as his mouth proceeded upwards kissing her forehead, and then back down towards her nose. A moan escaped her lips as Haru's lips found her throat, which only enticed Haru to press down harder. Sora's hands wrapped around her brother, pulling him closer into her. His kisses became more and more intense as Sora's moans increased. Both vaguely registered that Haru might be leaving a mark on her throat but currently neither child really cared. The only thing that mattered was the person in front of them.

"Ahem . . . hate to spoil your moment again . . . but people are starting to stare" Cai interrupted. The twins hurriedly broke apart and glance around. People stood by their cars looking at the children with a mixture of pity and disgust. Haru's and Sora's ears were bombarded by the sinister whispers of the onlookers.

" . . . poor kids . . ."

". . . disgusting . . ."

". . . where are their parents?"

" . . . ugh their sibling . . ."

The children froze, paralyzed by their embarrassment and fear. The stood stock still unsure what to do, until Cai rescued them from their trance. He kneed both kids from behind, edging them forward. "Come on the sale on Rubix Cubes ends in ten minutes!" He shouted. He kneed the kids again, and this time getting the message the twins took off at a dead sprint towards the mall, Cai in tow. Haru couldn't remember where he had run so fast in his life. He came to a halt outside the automatic doors panting hard, his body covered in sweat.

"Rubix Cubes?" He gasped as Cai approached.

The teen shrugged "Who doesn't love a Rubix Cube." Even Caring two people Cai wasn't breathing Hard after their sprint to the mall. Haru waved his hand at Cai too tired to speak. He chuckled at the twins lack of physical prowess. "Come on, the girls are probably waiting." He strode towards the automatic doors leaving the twins behind him. The doors opened as he approached blasting the party with refreshing cold air. The twins hurriedly followed after the teen, not wanting to get lost.

Haru sighed as they entered the building. "We definitely got sucked into his pace, didn't we?" he asked his sister.

"Hmm . . . oh . . . probably" she answered absent mindedly. Haru glanced over at his sister.

"What's wrong Sora? You seem out of it" Haru asked concerned.

Sora slumped against him as they walked through the mall, resting her head on his shoulder "Nothing . . . it's just . . . those people back there . . . what they said is really bothering me." Haru understood what she meant. He remembered the way his body froze under the penetrating glares those people had given them.

He wrapped a protective arm around his sister "I'll be okay" he whispered "Don't let them bother you."

"Kay" she said not sounding like she believed him at all. Cai turned around and eyed the twins carefully. He pondered what to do as he sat the elderly couple down in a pair of massage chairs outside an American eagle. When he stood again, his face held a playful smirk.

"I don't like that look" Haru said slightly anxious.

"Don't worry" Cai laughed "I actually got a good idea, but I'm going to need the girls for this to work so let's go find them. The children lead the strange man towards the escalator that lead to the food court. They stepped onto the escalator and let the mechanical staircase take them to the floor below. Once they reached the bottom the stepped off and waited for Cai.

Haru almost double over with laughter on the spot when he saw Cai. The teen was attempting to walk down the up escalator. "HARU!" he shouted "HELP! I'm trapped."

Haru laughed unable to form words. "Come on" Sora said. The ghost of a smile toughing her face "let's go help him or we'll be here all day."

Ten minutes later, after talking Cai down the stairs they found themselves in the food court. What little happiness Sora had shown after seeing Cai's shenanigans, had dispelled as her mind drifted back to the parking lot. "Ah there they are" Cai said as he waved towards the girls. The girls approached slowly still wary of Sora, but seeing the depressed look on her face they hurried over genuinely concered for the small girl.

"What's wrong with Sora –Chan?" One of the girls asked.

"Actually" Cai said "I was wondering if you could help me with that."

"Definitely" different girl. She was easily the youngest of the group thirteen maybe fourteen. With bubblegum pink hair held in a side ponytail. "What do you need us to do?"

" ight, huddle up" Cai ordered. The girls huddled around the teen as if they were some sort of football team. Cai quickly whispered the plan to the girls. "What do you think?" He asked after he was done explaining.

"I like it" It was the first girl to talk earlier. "It's simple, yet effective _if_ it works."

"Are you sure Haru will pull though?" said another. "This whole plan comes down to him."

"Hey don't doubt my man, Haru" Cai said in the defense of his new found friend "He's got this shit."

The girls giggled "Alright then all that's left is for us to go buy it. We can handle the cost, but in return we want you to do . . . a certain favor" The first girl said.

"and this favor is . . ." Cai said indicating for them to elaborate.

The third girl to speak took a step forward and whispered in Cai's ear. Once she was done she took a step back. "Well?" she asked tentatively.

Cai smirked "Oh, I can _definitely _do that. You want me to do that for all five of you?"

The girl shook her head "no, just the two of us" she said. "Those two" she indicated to two of her friends that hadn't said a word the whole time "said they won't and Amy's too young."

Cai nodded "makes sense. So do we have a deal?" The lead girl nodded in response. "Alrighty then. Haru, Sora, were gonna follow them for a while, kay?" Haru grumbled under his breath but followed, his sister in tow.

The girls lead them back towards the escalator they had come down earlier. They stepped and headed back to the second floor. They walked with the stairs making the journey upward faster. Halfway up Haru suddenly stopped walking, causing one of the girls behind him to stumble. "what's wrong ?" she asked as she steadied both of them.

Haru sighed "I think Cai got on the wrong-"

"HARU!"

Slowly the child turned, already expecting what he was about to see. Cai was walking in place on the down escalator trying to walk up.

"Dang it Cai. We've been over this. Down escalator go down, up escalator go up." Haru shouted to the teen as he stepped off his own escalator.

"I know that" Cai shouted back. "I got stuck on that one last time" he said indicating towards the escalator Haru had just gotten off of. "So I got on this one" he indicated towards his own.

Haru face palmed "Look, just stay still and let that one take you to the bottom then get on the other one."

"Never" Cai shouted as he dodged a middle aged couple and a baby coming down. "Foul mechanical beast, thou shan't best thee twice." Haru blinked surprised by the teen's sudden outburst of olden English. In that brief moment Cai had disappeared and reappeared in front of the girls.

The child jumped out of the way as Cai's momentum carried him forward and into three of the girls. They fell backwards unable to keep their balance as Cai plowed into them. As he fell both his hands shot out trying to steady him, but instead latched onto the girls' breasts and his head buried itself under the skirt of the girl in the middle.

When they hit the ground all four teenagers shook their heads trying to reclaim their senses. Cai was the first to gather his wits "SURPRISE EROTICA" He shouted excitedly. Three screams and three slaps later. Cai's face held three new bruises and the girls were walking well ahead of the rest of the group. "Worth it" the teen whispered as he rubbed his new bruises, just loud enough for the girls in front to hear. They made no indication that they heard but Haru could've sworn that he saw all three blush.

Distracted and not paying attention to where he was going Haru bumped into Sora. "Sorry he mumbled as he held out his hand to steady her. She nodded her thanks without a word as she took his hand. During the entire ordeal Sora had remained as stoic as ever. Not even the sad ghost of a smile had touched her lips. Haru prayed that Cai knew what he was doing and that this plan of his would work.

The girls turned a corner passing several various stores and shops. They stopped outside a store that looked as if it were exclusively for girls. Everything was such a bright shade of pink that Haru was pained to look at the merchandise in the store. The whole place reeked of perfume and nail polish causing Haru to plug his nose. The sign above the store was nothing but an illegible mess of squiggly lines that looped and curved around one another. The lines were the same color as about everything in the store, Haru looked away unable to look at it.

"We're going in here?" Haru asked, the distaste clear in his voice.

"Nope" Cai answered "The girls are. Me and you gonna stay out here and have bro talk."

"Bro talk?" Haru asked "What the heck are we-"

Cai held up a hand to silence the silver haired child as the girls lead Sora inside. Once out of ear shot the teen opened his mouth "Lesson four." Haru who hadn't really been paying attention to what the teen was saying suddenly focused on every word Cai said. His last advice has certainly helped so listening to some more couldn't hurt. "What's the number one thing girls look for in a guy?"

Haru scratched his head "Umm . . ."

"A huge dick" Cai interrupted "What's the second best thing?"

Haru sighed "I don't know."

"It's a bit corny but it's . . . honesty."

"Honesty" Haru repeated surprised by Cai's normal answer.

The teen shrugged "That's just the first half of it, but the other half will have to wait till the next lesson. Now if you'll excuse me I'm very tired I'ma go sleep." And with that the teen curled up on the bench and started snoring.

"Ah Cai wait . . . ugh what the heck." The child walked over to the railing beside Cai and leaned heavily against it. He watched the shoppers below him go about their business. Haru wondered to himself how a simple trip to the mall with his grandparents turned into a high speed carjacking ending up with his sister in some shop with girls they had never met and Haru standing next to some sleeping playboy that seemed to have just won over five girls at once, and could barely remember his name.

A voice from behind him rescued the boy from his own thoughts. "Haru-Chan?" he turned towards the source of the unfamiliar voice. He felt his jaw drop at the sight before him. "What do you think?" the older girl giggled. The girls around her giggled as well seeing Haru's dumbstruck face. Sora stood in the middle of the girls wearing an elegant black yukata decorated with white flowers. The article was a perfect fit that clung to her frame nearly perfectly. The black stood out against her pale skin making her look even more fair than usual. The white flowers complimented her skin further and made her hair seem even more vibrant silver.

The word honesty ran through the back of his mind, but he barely registered it. His mouth seemed to be forming words on its own. "Ka-kawii" he murmured.

Sora blushed a pink even deeper than the sign above her head. Funny, Haru though. He could barely stand to look at the pink merchandise in the store but when Sora blushed the same color he couldn't stop staring. "You really think so?" Sora asked.

Haru's mouth flopped up and down unable to form words "I umm . . . Sora you look . . . um . . . Wow" he finished lamely.

If possible Sora blushed even deeper. She threw herself at her brother, burying her face in his chest. "B-Baka" Sora stammered "Now I'm all embarrassed."

"Sorry" Haru muttered "You really do look pretty though."

"Arigato" Sora mumbled back. She buried her face in her brother's chest both children too embarrassed to look each other in the eye. The older girl strode forward towards Cai. She gripped his shoulder and shook it.

"Oi, Cai wake up" she said as she gave another shake.

The teen grumbled and rolled over "mmm . . . not there . . ." he mumbled. The girl blushed a crimson red and pushed Cai off the bench. The unsuspecting teen fell to the ground with a resounding thud but made no inclination of waking up. "mmm . . . you're so rough . . ." he mumbled.

"You're doing it all wrong" Haru interrupted before the girl injured Cai any further. "Let me handle this." He walked over to the teen, Sora holding on to the back of his shirt, and pulled out his wallet. He grabbed a five dollar bill and walked to the Aunt Annie's Pretzel on the other side of the mall. He ordered a box of pretzel sticks and walked back to the group. Before he was even ten feet from Cai, the teen had awoken from his sleep and bounded on the child. The pretzel sticks were devoured, box and all in a blink of an eye.

Cai let out a satisfying belch and looked at Sora's embarrassed but happy face. He pounded his chest with his fist "Plan work" he said with a masculine grunt.

The girls giggled "Come on Tarzan. It's yours and Haru's turn to get a yukata" one of them said.

"wait, we don't have to go In there too, do we?" He said pointing towards the girly store in a panic.

"No silly" one of the girls laughed "Your store is down there" she pointed towards a store on the first floor. It didn't scream masculinity but it was definitely an improvement to the store they were currently at.

"Ugh" Cai groaned "Do we have to take the escalator thingies?"

"Ya" Haru answered "just stick with us this time though and you won't get stuck."

"Fuck dat Shit" Cai said. He grabbed the edge of the railing and jumped over hurtling his body into open space. The girls gasped as he fell, the ground rushing up to meet him. The teen landed with the grace of Cat, with barely an impact on the hard marble floor. "Haru, Sora. Why don't you guys jump too? I'll catch you" he shouted back up.

"Ugh, how come when he says it, it sounds like a good idea" Haru complained

Sora looked at her brother "you wanna jump?"

The boy sighed "Ah why the hell not?" Haru along with his sister ran towards the bench Cai had been sleeping on earlier. They kicked off the bench together, propelling their bodies over the railing. There were more gasps as the twins fell towards Cai. The feeling was spectacular the wind blowing through their hair as they fell and the loss of the familiar feeling of the ground below them gave the twins a sense of giddiness. Haru's hand found Sora's as they flew through the air. They looked down at their target praying he was ready to catch them. The teen's arms were outstretched in preparation to catch them but once the twins were right above him he jumped back letting them fall.

The twins gasped as the ground rushed up to meet them. Haru pictured himself breaking both his legs as he hit the ground and cringed at the thought. However, right before the children's legs struck the floor, bright gold-bronze light shot forth from their feet.

Haru heard Sora gasp beside him as he did the same. The light was the same as the night in the forest. The one they used to attack the monster. The glowing light acted as a cushion slowing they're fall as they pummeled towards the earth. They hit the ground with little force and stumbled forward. Not quite as graceful as Cai, but impressive none the less.

"Haha niiiiiice" Cai laughed.

"What the heck Cai" Sora yelled.

"Sorry" the teen said apologetically. "I needed to see if you had improved since last time. You passed" he added with a thumbs up.

"What the heck are you-"

"Stop right there" came a voice on Haru's left. All three heads turned simultaneously to the sound of the voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The security guard demanded. Inwardly Haru swore, how the hell were they gonna talk there way outta of this?

"Officer, officer, lemme explain." Haru relaxed ever so slightly. If there was one thing Cai excelled at it was smoothing talking his way out of sticky situations. The child was still a little peeved at Cai for letting him and his sister fall, but the teen seemed to know that the gold-bronze light would come out of them. Once again, Haru wondered what happened in the woods that night, and who the heck Cai was.

"You see officer I was just trying to-" suddenly without warning Cai punched the security guard in the face. The officer went out like a light and fell to the ground. The teen turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. "Don't just stand there" he shouted at the dumbstruck children "RUN FOOLS!"

Sora sprang to life first. She grabbed her brother's hand and pulled him with her as she ran after Cai. Alarms went off filling the entire mall with an annoying blare. "Split up" Cai shouted "we'll meet up at where I left your grandparents."

"Got it" Sora shouted back. She tugged on her brother's hand once more and led him away from the security guards that had appeared atop the escalator.

"In here" Haru said, finally adjusting to the situation. Sora followed his lead and they quickly ducked into the nearest store.


End file.
